Recap: Yusuke and Hiei were attacked, and some strange, strange things happened, including a wound Yusuke suffered disappearing. Botan still couldn't find Yukina, and she enlisted Keiko's help to beat off Puu and get to the temple. Yusuke and Hiei found the gateway to spirit world, and when Kuwabara and Kurama joined them and they all jumped through it, something strange happened!

Chapter 7: Too Nice

"I was making sure you didn't fall," Kurama said harshly, shaking his hand free of Hiei's hold.

"Well that was unnecessary, because I can take care of myself," Hiei replied.

"You didn't try to struggle."

"You didn't have to hold my hand that way."

"I held it no specific way."

"I disagree."

Hiei and Kurama turned their heads from each other, leaving Yusuke and Kuwabara fidgeting awkwardly in front of them.

"You guys were holding hands the way couples do on a date," Kuwabara said.

"Stop making it worse!" Yusuke hissed at him.

Kuwabara and Yusuke pulled faces at each other before also turning away, leaving all four standing in a loose circle, all facing outwards to avoid having to look at any of the others. All four held their stance for some time until finally Yusuke ended the moment, spinning around to look at the others' backs.

"Let's go kick some ass, and then we can all go home," he said.

"Sounds good to me," Kuwabara agreed, approaching the door and pressing an ear against it.

"Hiei, can you tell us what's out there?" Yusuke asked, turning to Hiei expectantly.

Hiei twitched slightly but otherwise did not respond.

"Hiei!" Yusuke snapped impatiently. "Come on, we need your jagan eye!"

"I don't think there's anything out there, you guys," Kuwabara said.

"You go out first then," Yusuke suggested.

Kuwabara carefully opened the door and stuck his head out of the room.

"I was being sarcastic!" Yusuke yelped.

"Well, I don't see anybody out here," Kuwabara replied.

Yusuke groaned, pushing Kuwabara aside and stepping out of the room ahead of him. Beyond the room was a dull corridor, stretching away from him on either side, both ends obscured by darkness. It was eerily quiet, and there were no immediate signs or sounds of life in either direction.

"This fort must be of significant size, if what Koenma told us was correct," Kurama said as he joined Yusuke out in the hallway. "There is a good chance we will not encounter any resistance until we move much further inside."

"Yeah, well, cold hard facts have never really been the brat's strong point," Yusuke replied.

"This is like Maze Castle all over again," Kuwabara groaned.

"Maze Castle?" Hiei echoed.

Kuwabara frowned down at him.

"Yeah, remember?"

Hiei stared blankly back up at him.

"The first mission we ever did together?" Kuwabara added.

"Tarukane and the Toguro Brothers?" Hiei asked.

Kuwabara slowly shook his head.

"Damn it Hiei, it figures you wouldn't even remember how instrumental I was in the Maze Castle mission!" he complained. "And besides, you weren't even on that mission against Tarukane anyway! That was just me and Yusuke!"

"And Kurama and Botan too," Hiei replied.

""Instrumental"?" Yusuke snorted, eying Kuwabara over with an air of disdain. "That's not how I remember it. I remember you running away a lot and almost drowning in a pit of lava."

"You don't drown in lava, Urameshi!" Kuwabara argued back.

"You almost did," Yusuke said with a shrug.

"Shall we split up?" Kurama suggested.

"Sure," Yusuke agreed.

"I'm not going with tiny," Kuwabara said, stepping back from Hiei.

"Well it's not my turn, I already did my share of weirdness management today," Yusuke said, turning to Kurama.

"Fine," Kurama replied. "You and Kuwabara go that way, and Hiei and I will go this way."

Yusuke nodded and he and Kuwabara turned left, moving off along the corridor together. Kurama turned to Hiei, attempting a smile but quickly losing momentum when he saw the worried way Hiei was looking up at him.

"Let's go," he said instead, turning right and starting on his way.

"I'm sorry."

Kurama flinched but tried to hide his surprise as he looked down at Hiei, walking along at his side.

"What for?" he asked.

"M-my jagan eye," Hiei replied, tapping a finger at his bandana. "I-it hasn't been working so well since I… Became sick."

"That's alright," Kurama assured him. "We need to move through this place and destroy it from the inside out anyway."

"You think I'm a burden."

"I never said that."

"It's what you're thinking though. Nobody wanted to be paired with me back there. Why? Because of who I am, or because of my weakness?"

"Kuwabara never wants to be left alone with you because he's scared of you, Yusuke is having difficulty dealing with how the virus has affected your behaviour and I…"

Hiei looked up at Kurama expectantly, and Kurama tried to avoid looking directly back at him.

"You seem different," he eventually finished.

"Better or worse?" Hiei asked.

"That's not important," Kurama answered, his words clipped and dismissive.

They walked on in silence for a little longer before Kurama found himself talking again, a small part of him already knowing that he was treading dangerous waters and yet he could not resist taking advantage of the opportunity he had.

"You're very vulnerable, and that's an unusual condition for you to be in," he said slowly, trying to chose his words as carefully as possible to avoid Hiei losing his temper and becoming violent. "I haven't seen you this way since we first met."

"I was a different person when we first met," Hiei stiffly replied.

"Yes, I know," Kurama agreed. "I just find it somewhat ironic that you're once more weakened and dependent on me. It's making me nostalgic."

"I was never dependent on you."

"I think you were, if only for a little while."

"That's just your opinion."

"True. I saw what you did, you know."

Hiei's eyes flickered up at Kurama a few times, and he distinctly began to sweat more so than he had been lately.

"I saw you watching me back then," Kurama continued. "You were curious, almost studying me. I often wonder what you were thinking."

"I was curious," Hiei replied. "I was captivated."

Kurama twitched again, sweating a little himself then.

"Your situation is unique," Hiei continued. "A long-lived, powerful fox demon and one-time legendary bandit seeking a position of power, relegated to life as a simple human. I was intrigued."

"I see," Kurama said. "I thought perhaps you were taking measure of me."

"I was."

"You wanted to prove yourself to me."

Kurama looked down at Hiei expectantly, but Hiei kept his head down as they walked, keeping his face infuriatingly out of Kurama's line of sight, refusing him the chance to gauge his reaction to his words.

"Maybe," he eventually said.

"You've wanted to prove yourself to me for a long time, haven't you?" Kurama asked, allowing himself a smile when he realised that Hiei was not going to look up at him again.

"For the longest time, yes," Hiei replied.

"Then let's make a deal: once this mission is over, once you've recovered and regained your strength, we will do battle once more."

"No."

Kurama stumbled slightly, his head whipping around to look down at Hiei, who was still holding his head down, affording Kurama only a view of his spiked hair.

"Why not?" he asked, keeping his eyes on Hiei in the hope that he would look up.

"If we battled, you would let me win," Hiei replied.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because that's your way. You would toy with me for a little while and then let me win to avoid me challenging you again."

"That's very presumptuous of you. Maybe I would transform into Yoko and humiliate you."

Hiei slowly lifted his head, the look on his face surprising Kurama: his red eyes were thinned and almost glowing and his jaw was squared as though he was barely containing anger.

"That was highly inappropriate," he said quietly.

"You don't want me to go easy on you, so I won't," Kurama replied. "I'll take you on in my most powerful form, and then there can be no doubt in your mind, whatever the outcome may be."

"Don't threaten me with your full demon form. You think I couldn't keep up with you, but you're wrong."

"Well then I will face you in my full demon form, and we will both know for sure."

"You and I are no longer talking about the same thing."

Kurama stopped abruptly, words failing him. Hiei walked on, glaring back over his shoulder at Kurama as though he had just deeply insulted him.

"I thought that was what you wanted, Hiei!" he called after him.

"Sadly you don't seem to understand what I want," Hiei replied. "Yet."

"What?"

Kurama's head tilted against his will as confusion took over common sense, but he did not hold the pose for long as he soon realised that Hiei as still walking on without him and was moving away from him quite rapidly.

"Hiei!" he called out.

He hurried after him, almost running into his back as he stopped abruptly. Kurama made to ask Hiei why he had stopped, but shortly saw why: apparently they had just found one of the gang of demons they had been looking for.

"Keiko, you should never have come with me!" Botan screamed. "What if you get hurt? Yusuke will kill me! And then Koenma will kill Yusuke because it's illegal for a demon to kill a human!"

"You're not a human, Botan!" Keiko reminded her. "Just keep going!"

"I'm scared!" Botan wailed.

"Try to think of this as an adventure!"

"I don't like adventures any more!"

Keiko tightened her hold of Botan's oar and turned her head to her right, looking back the way they had come. Her hair whipped over her face, almost obscuring her vision entirely, but she saw enough to see that Puu was still following them.

"He doesn't look so angry as he did before," she said as she turned back to Botan.

"He never does when I'm flying towards the temple," Botan said, keeping her head turned to the left, watching where she was going. "This is the one time he doesn't get aggressive, but then when I get close to the temple, he becomes uncontrollably wild!"

"He seems okay so far," Keiko assured her. "Maybe he's calmer because I'm here. Maybe I remind him of Yusuke and – ah!"

Keiko and Botan both lurched to one side, almost falling off the oar entirely as they were suddenly jolted forwards and downwards. After quickly steadying themselves they both turned right, seeing Puu's beak clamped down on the blade of Botan's oar. They both screamed, hanging on desperately to the handle of the oar as Botan lost control of it entirely, Puu's strength taking over, driving them onwards through the sky.

"How will we land?" Keiko asked Botan.

"Horribly?" Botan whimpered.

Keiko gulped and turned to Puu again.

"Puu?" she said, daring to let go of the oar with one hand to reach it out towards his beak. "Puu, it's okay. You don't have to be angry, everything's alright."

She touched her fingertips to the downy area just above where his beak connected to his head, tentatively stroking at him, watching his eyes for any signs of aggression. When he remained calm she found the courage to rest her entire hand onto his forehead and she even managed to smile.

"Oh, well done, Keiko!" Botan said, sighing in relief.

"See, he's not angry really," Keiko said.

Botan nodded, but as Keiko slid her hand towards the crest of Puu's mane something flickered across his eyes and he tightened his bite on the oar, arching up his back and shifting their flight path. Keiko snatched her hand from his head and grabbed at the oar again, trying to hold on.

"Bail!" Botan shouted suddenly.

"What?" Keiko echoed.

"Bail!" Botan yelled.

"Botan!"

Botan launched herself off of her oar but Keiko held on, crying out and landing almost as hard on the ground as Botan had as Puu drove the tip of the oar down into the forest floor. She was temporarily winded from the fall and by the time she had regained her senses she was already on her feet and stumbling over rocky ground and through the trees thanks to Botan, who had pulled her up and was dragging her along by her hand.

"What are we doing?" she asked.

"Running," Botan replied. "Whatever you do, don't look back."

Keiko immediately looked back, panic striking when she saw a suddenly enraged Puu running after them. She turned around and pushed harder, running faster at Botan's side. Puu had forced them down near the top of the sloping part of the forest floor by the temple steps, and so they were running uphill, making their escape doubly difficult. When they finally reached the edge of the trees and the end of the incline, Puu snapped at Botan's ankles, his beak narrowly missing her and stabbing into the ground. He rolled over with the momentum of the speed he had been running at, allowing the girls to cross most of the lawn unhindered. When he finally righted himself and shook off the mud from his face, he took to the air, flying low and fast, spearheading himself after them.

They screamed as they reached the doors, fumbling desperately to open them as Puu rocketed towards them. As he reached the halfway point they both managed to slide open a door each, and both gladly ran inside and spun around to slide the doors shut again. They pushed the doors as fast and hard as they could, but were not quick enough, the doors clattering against Puu's beak. They both shouted frantically at him, pushing the doors against him, gradually managing to push his pointed beak back outside.

Once they finally had the doors shut they quickly locked them into place and both ran through to the main living room area, away from the main doors, where they finally dropped to the ground to catch their breath.

"Oh, I feel terrible, Botan!" Keiko said. "Do you think we hurt him back there?"

"We didn't have any other choice," Botan replied. "Let's just do what we came here to do, and then get out of here."

"How will we get out of here?" Keiko asked.

"We'll need to create some sort of distraction to stop him attacking us as we leave."

"Like what?"

"I don't know yet. Let's find out where Yukina is first."

"Right."

Botan pushed herself to her feet and held out a hand to Keiko, helping her to her feet. Together they trudged through the temple to Yukina's bedroom, panting, sweating and dragging their feet.

"It's exciting, at least," Botan said as she slid open the door to Yukina's room.

"Yeah, facing death is always "exciting"," Keiko replied.

"Look at this place," Botan said, waving a hand at the small room they had entered. "Everything's all neat and plain and simple, just like Yukina."

"Yeah, she's got quite a sweet life up here, huh?"

Botan picked up a hairbrush from the vanity desk, pulling loose a single blue-green hair.

"This is the best place for her," she said.

"Where did Yukina come from, anyway?" Keiko asked as Botan fumbled through her pockets for her demon compass.

"The ice village, silly!" Botan said.

"I didn't know that," Keiko pointed out.

"Oh. Well, that's where she's from."

"She never talks about it."

"Maybe just because she doesn't live there any more."

"She never really talks about anything in her life."

"I suppose there isn't much to say. She's led a very quiet, simple, uneventful life."

"Do you think she ever gets bored living up here on her own?"

"She's not the type to get bored. She likes just tending the gardens and feeding the birds and listening to Kuwabara."

"I guess."

"There we are."

Botan snapped shut the demon compass, studying the face for a moment before flicking a finger at it impatiently.

"Is everything okay?" Keiko asked.

"It doesn't seem to be working," Botan replied.

"Maybe you need to take it near a window to get a signal," Keiko suggested.

"It's not a cell phone Keiko, it doesn't work like that."

"Then why isn't it working?"

Botan frowned down at the lifeless screen, the corners of her mouth slowly drooping downwards.

"Keiko, the compass is working," she said quietly.

"Oh great!" Keiko said. "So which way does it say to go?"

"No, it's working, and it's saying there is no signal," Botan solemnly replied, lifting her eyes to look at Keiko.

"No signal? How is that possible?"

"Well, it could mean that Yukina is more than 60 miles away, and that's why we can't pick up her signal."

"More than 60 miles away? But Yukina doesn't know anywhere else to go in this world, least of all somewhere that far away!"

"Well, the other possibilities are more… Difficult."

"What are the other possibilities?"

"She could be in spirit world, she could be in demon world, or…"

"Or what?"

"Or it could be that we can't trace the signal of her life energy because she has no life energy left."

"You mean she could be d…?"

Botan slowly nodded and Keiko felt her heart sink.

"How could that have happened?" she asked faintly.

"I don't know, but there's only way to confirm this for sure," Botan replied.

"Okay, what do we have to do?"

"I'm going to go out with the compass, and fly around this area in a 60 mile radius to see if I find a signal. If not, then it's probably safe to assume that she isn't anywhere in this world. While I'm travelling, I'll call Lord Koenma and Yusuke and ask if it's possible that Yukina could be in spirit world or demon world."

"Right. And what should I do?"

"Stay here, indoors, where you're safe."

"I don't like that idea."

Botan chewed at her lip in thought and Keiko shook her head.

"Call Yusuke now," she insisted. "Tell him Yukina is missing, and Puu is acting badly, and ask him for help us!"

"He's on a mission for Lord Koenma, he can't just drop that to come here," Botan pointed out.

"Please just call him."

Botan sighed, giving in to Keiko's demands and pulling out her communication mirror. She flipped it open and called Yusuke, waiting for him to respond, which he did after only a short delay.

"What's up, Botan?" he asked.

"Yusuke, we have a small problem," she replied.

"I got a big problem," Yusuke said, smirking darkly. "It's called Kuwabara."

"Ooh, Kuwabara!" Botan gasped.

"Well, that's gotta be a first: a girl who gets excited about Kuwabara!"

"Ask Kuwabara where Yukina is."

Yusuke frowned at the communicator.

"Just do it, Yusuke!" Botan snapped.

"Fine," he said through a sigh. "Hey Kuwabara!" he called over one shoulder. "Botan wants to know where Yukina is!"

There was a short pause, Yusuke nodded and then turned back to the communicator.

"She's staying at Kuwabara's place with his sister," he said.

"No she's not, I already tried there," Botan said.

"Oh. Hey, Kuwabara? Yukina's not at your place!"

There was another pause as Kuwabara answered Yusuke.

"He said she's staying with Keiko, or Keiko's parents," Yusuke eventually answered.

"No, that's not right either, Yusuke," Keiko said, leaning over Botan's shoulder to take herself into his line of vision. "We've lost her, do you have any idea where she might be?"

"How the hell would I know?" Yusuke asked.

"Give the communicator to Kuwabara!" Botan snapped.

"Hey, Kuwabara!" he called over his shoulder. "Botan and Keiko have lost Yukina. Any idea where she would go to?"

Kuwabara appeared on the screen at Yusuke's side, looking irate.

"What do you mean, you've lost Yukina?" he demanded.

"Exactly what it sounds like!" Botan retorted impatiently. "Do you know where she is or not?"

"I always know where she is!" Kuwabara replied. "We're connected by the red thread of fate, nothing can break that, I can always reach her, no matter where she is!"

"So do it already, idiot!" Yusuke snapped at him.

"Oh, right, okay."

Kuwabara closed his eyes and touched a finger to one temple. Yusuke pulled faces at him as they waited for him to open his eyes again – which took a lot longer than seemed reasonable. When he finally did open his eyes again, he looked confused and a little anxious.

"Did you find her?" Botan asked.

"It's so weird," Kuwabara quietly replied. "Normally I can always reach her, no matter where she is or where I am, but I got nothing. Absolutely nothing. I can't even tell where she is, never mind what she's thinking!"

Botan snapped the communicator shut, causing Keiko to yelp in surprise.

"Botan!" she said. "Why did you just cut them off?"

"Well, the thing is, unlike the demon compass, Kuwabara's connection to Yukina isn't restricted by distance or dimension…" Botan slowly replied.

"So he could find her no matter where she is, without doing an actual search!" Keiko said.

"Exactly," Botan replied with a nod of her head.

"So then why did you cut him off before we could ask him to look for her?"

"Because Keiko, he already did look for her, and he couldn't find her. Which means she must be gone."

"We already know that she's gone!"

"I mean she must be gone from this world."

"So she's in demon world? Or spirit world?"

Botan sighed, placing the demon compass and communicator down onto the vanity table by Yukina's hairbrush and then moving her hands to Keiko's shoulders.

"Sweetie, if Kuwabara can't find Yukina, she's no longer able to be found," she said gently.

"I don't understand," Keiko replied.

"She's dead, Keiko."

Keiko shook her head.

"No!" she said.

Botan nodded, her eyes blurring with tears.

"But how?" Keiko asked.

Botan turned her head towards the window and Keiko copied her action, both seeing Puu standing mere inches from the glass, glaring in at them.

Kurama grunted in surprised as his Rose Whip successfully broke through the crossbow the wiry demon was holding, but passed through the demon himself without doing him any harm.

"Stay back, I don't like this," he warned Hiei.

Hiei did not move, and as the demon ahead of them flung a hand out towards them Kurama quickly leapt in front of Hiei, shielding his face with his arm as he was hit with a wall of water.

"It's exactly what I feared," he whispered over his shoulder. "A water demon. Be careful, he'll…"

Kurama turned his head further, finding an empty space where Hiei had been standing.

"Hiei?"

He looked about himself frantically, eventually locating Hiei striding towards the water demon.

"Hiei!"

Kurama reached out a hand towards Hiei in vain as the water demon launched another water attack at Hiei, sending out a spiralling stream of water that snaked around Hiei's body. Kurama swung back his arm intent on whipping down the water demon; but before he could enact his plan Hiei grabbed the arc of water and swung it around at the water demon, who snarled angrily, clutching at his throat as blood sprayed from a wound Hiei had somehow inflicted upon him. Once he had recovered from his initial shock Kurama tore the demon apart with one crack of his whip, before turning suspicious eyes to Hiei, who was standing quite serenely, despite being drenched, his hair wilted downwards slightly under the weight of the water.

"What did you just do?" Kurama asked him.

"I cut him," Hiei replied, pointing down at the demon.

"With what?" Kurama asked.

"My sword."

"I didn't see you draw your weapon or store it afterwards."

"Maybe you're getting slow."

Kurama narrowed his eyes. There was no denying that Hiei was fast, but he had hoped that his own training had not become so lax that he could no longer see the fire demon draw his weapon, strike, and return it to its sheath.

"We should keep moving," Hiei said, stepping over a pool of congealing blood by the fallen water demon's leg.

"Yes, it's likely someone at least heard what just happened," Kurama agreed, following him onwards.

They moved on in silence, but did not get far before they both stopped abruptly at the sound of a distant and unmistakable cry of pain.

"That was Kuwabara," Hiei muttered, before starting to walk on again.

"Wait!" Kurama said, grabbing Hiei's arm and pulling him back. "This isn't something we can just rush in to."

"It sounds like Kuwabara isn't handling it, I don't see that we have a choice," Hiei replied, tugging his arm out of Kurama's grip.

"I know you dislike hesitation in battle, but this is one instance where rushing in is absolutely the wrong thing to do."

Hiei paused, and at first Kurama assumed he was just going to take off anyway: Hiei blindly believed that rushing in on the offensive was the best way to start any battle, and Kurama's more tactical, delayed approach had always angered him. And, above all, Hiei despised being told what to do, so the likelihood of him waiting then was virtually nil.

"I trust your judgement," he eventually said, turning his head to look back over his shoulder at Kurama.

"You do?"

The question was out before Kurama could stop himself from vocalising it, and although the look Hiei gave him made him feel all more ridiculous for having asked it, he was still glad that he had, in the hope that Hiei might expand on his answer.

"Why wouldn't I?" he asked instead.

"I don't know," Kurama replied awkwardly. "I suppose it's just that you and I rarely agree on this matter."

"Huh, you should know better than anyone not to suppose anything about anyone else."

"Yes, that makes sense…"

Kurama felt confused, but what he could sense up ahead was too concerning for his thoughts to linger on Hiei's unexpected compliance for too long. He had noticed that the corridor they had been walking along had been curved, and apparently it moved around in a complete circle, because, judging by the direction Kuwabara's voice had come from, they were on course for meeting up with Yusuke and Kuwabara, despite having moved off in the opposite direction from them initially.

"Stay close to me," he said, carefully moving onwards.

"Okay," Hiei agreed.

Kurama was again surprised by Hiei's compliance, but said nothing, instead focusing on what he could sense up ahead. It had been a long time since Kurama had last encountered such a demon as the one he already knew had caught Kuwabara, and he was secretly a little nervous about doing so again now. He reaffirmed his grip on his Rose Whip, casing a nervous glance down at it, finding himself doubting its effectiveness for the first time in more years than he could recall.

Hiei tugged at Kurama's sleeve, distracting him from his own thoughts and again leaving him a little surprised as he saw the fire demon pressing his back against the wall and sidling along, trying to keep himself concealed as they neared the sounds of a struggle ahead of them. Kurama copied his action, putting himself ahead of Hiei.

"You're a coward!" they heard Yusuke yell, his voice echoing slightly off the high walls around them. "If you had any balls, you'd fight me face-to-face!"

"Yeah, this is cheating!" Kuwabara added.

Kurama passed a slightly sharper bend in the wall and stopped, his breath hitching in his chest at what he saw: he had sensed as much from further back, smelt as much and already known as much, but it still startled him to see Yusuke and Kuwabara in the clutches of a demon plant under the control of a silver-haired fox demon.

"Listen to me very carefully Hiei," he whispered, keeping his eyes on the fox demon. "His powers may be similar to mine, but he is very young, and it's unlikely that he'll be able to do – Hiei!"

Kurama inadvertently shouted out Hiei's name as the fire demon ran past him, tearing out his sword, his teeth bared and his eyes blazing. The fox demon ahead of them turned sharply at Kurama's outburst, and with a small gesture of his hand sent a curled branch of the tree already holding Yusuke and Kuwabara out towards Hiei, who, despite appearing to be running, was moving ridiculously slow, especially by his own usual standards, and within seconds the branch had wound around his waist and was lifting him from the ground. Undeterred, Hiei grasped his sword with both hands and began hacking at the branch holding him, using his sword like a crude axe.

"You're wasting your time, shorty!" Kuwabara called up to him. "My spirit sword was totally useless again it!"

Hiei ignored him and continued trying to cut himself free, only stopping when the branch stopped moving, holding him in place on eye level with his captor.

"You're an angry, ugly little thing, aren't you?" the fox asked, smiling amusedly at him.

He sniffed at the air, his eyes twitching slightly.

"And you smell like the inside of a whore's boudoir," he added. "A cheap whore's boudoir."

"Well only you would know what that smells like!" Hiei snapped back, swinging his sword at the fox demon, who was mere inches beyond the reach of the tip of his blade.

Hiei strained and struggled and swung his arms about several times, managing to do nothing more than displace the air enough to make the ends of the fox demon's silky silver hair dance in the air about his shoulders.

"Finished?" the fox asked when Hiei finally stopped swinging his arms about.

"No!" Hiei replied, throwing his sword at the fox, who casually stepped to one side, turning his head to watch as the weapon fell to the floor beyond him with a clatter that echoed off the high walls.

"Oh, well done, Hiei!" Kuwabara groaned. "Just hand over your weapon, why don't you?"

"I don't need a sword to defeat him…" Hiei growled.

He grunted as the branch around his waist hoisted him sharply upwards, bringing him up between Kuwabara and Yusuke.

"Don't struggle," Yusuke advised him. "I did, and it just gets tighter. I think I broke a rib."

Hiei stopped struggling, but the incensed look did not leave his face, and his eyes continued to stare, unblinkingly, at their captor.

"And what's that I smell?" the fox demon asked, sniffing at the air around him. "It almost smells like a fox demon, but it stinks of human, too… Could it be the legendary bandit Yoko Kurama, who chose to merge himself with a human because he was scared of a couple of spirit world soldiers?"

Kurama stepped out from the shadows, showing himself to the fox demon.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I maybe don't have a famous reputation like you do, Kurama, but at least I still have my dignity," the fox replied.

"I asked your name," Kurama said coldly. "You have mine, let me have yours."

"It's Fumio."

"I've never heard of you."

"Probably not, since you left demon world some twenty years ago. Things have changed, Kurama. You're no longer the alpha male."

"I never was an alpha male. I left my pack many centuries ago. But you certainly are no alpha male either. You're still a junior."

"Chose your next words carefully. I may not be as old as you, but I am lot more powerful."

"With age comes experience and understanding. I believe I still have the upper-hand."

"I see you've lost none of your arrogance."

"You talk as though we have a prior acquaintance."

"You never knew me, but I knew you. And, how amusing, you've armed yourself with a plant. Do you really think you can control a plant around me? I'm clearly stronger than you; any plant will obey me before it obeys you. I will turn your own weapons against you, and you will–"

Fumio stopped abruptly as he heard something hit the ground behind him. He gave a small, curious frown before yelping out in pain and surprise as a booted foot kicked him hard in the crotch from behind. He hunched forwards, trying to suppress his pain, and spun around to confront his attacker, his face twisting as he saw Hiei grinning at him in an almost psychotic manner, shattered pieces of branch in each of his hands.

"How did you–?" he squeaked.

Hiei again cut Fumio off mid-sentence, smacking him across the face with one of the broken pieces of branch he was holding. As Fumio staggered and shook himself off, Hiei dived at one of the tree roots, tugging it out of the ground; but just as he got it free, Fumio grabbed the back of his cloak and yanked him up and back, pulling him from the root and throwing him back against a wall.

"What kind of sick bastard kicks another man in the crotch?" Fumio growled as he stomped over to where Hiei had landed.

He leaned over Hiei's fallen form, reaching for his cloak, but before he could reach his goal Hiei suddenly grabbed his ears, smoke bursting out from between his fingers with a sickeningly crackling sound. Fumio winced against the pain of having his ears burnt and Hiei used his momentary distraction to dart back over to the root he had uncovered, grabbing the tip in both hands and gripping his finger tightly into it. His hands and the root around them glowed, and for several seconds, nothing seemed to happen. Fumio smirked confidently and moved over to where Hiei was squatting.

"You fight dirty, it makes sense that a failure like Kurama would chose a cretin like you as a team-mate!" he said.

He punched Hiei in the side of the face, the blow sending Hiei rolling over with a small whimper of pain.

"Pathetic," Fumio concluded. "You see Kurama, I…"

His voice faded as a faint creaking sound reached his still stinging ears and he slowly turned to his demon tree, watching in uncontrolled horror as cracks began appearing in the bark, climbing upwards and outwards, cracking and creaking sounds filling the entire hallway until suddenly the whole tree burst apart, freeing Yusuke and Kuwabara.

"What the hell did you do?" he snarled, turning to Hiei.

"Forget about what he did, you need to worry about what I'm gonna do!" Yusuke yelled, grabbing Fumio's tail with one hand and punching the other hand into the small of his back.

As Fumio stumbled out of Yusuke's hold and Yusuke set about trying to knock him down, Kurama hurried over to Hiei's side, taking hold of his shoulders and pulling him up into a sitting position.

"Hiei?" he asked. "Are you alright?"

Hiei looked as though he was in shock, his pupils dilated and unfocused and his skin paler than ever: but slowly his eyes moved to Fumio, and gradually his features began to harden again. He spat a mouthful of blood to one side and got to his feet, putting a hand on Kurama's chest and pushing him out of his path before leaping over the shattered remains of the demon tree, heading towards Fumio.

"Hiei, stop!" Kurama shouted after him.

Kuwabara got up and grabbed at Hiei's cloak to stop him, but Hiei angrily wriggled out of the cloak and ran on, catching up to Yusuke as Fumio threw down a smoke-bomb, blinding them both. After the initial shock, Hiei tried to run through the smoke in pursuit of the fox demon, but Yusuke grabbed a hand around the waistband of his pants and held him back. He slowly stumbled back over the broken demon tree, dragging a reluctant and incensed Hiei with him, joining Kuwabara and Kurama on the other side of the mess the broken tree had left.

"Damn it, that stuff burns!" he complained, wiping his free hand at his watering eyes.

"I could have defeated him," Hiei grumbled.

"What the hell is wrong with you anyway?" Yusuke demanded, pulling Hiei sharply around to stand in front of him. "Why isn't that smoke hurting your eyes? And what did you kick him in the nuts for?"

"It seemed like the appropriate thing to do," Hiei replied, adjusting the waistband of his pants where Yusuke's grip had ruffled it.

"What did you to do that tree, Hiei?" Kurama asked.

"I freed those two from it," Hiei sarcastically replied. "Huh, talk about ungrateful!"

"Hiei, I've used that tree myself in battle, and I've never seen it break apart and collapse like that," Kurama said. "What did you do?"

"He was touching the root, and it was glowing with his powers," Kuwabara offered.

"That explains nothing," Kurama sharply replied.

"Well, I thought maybe it was like Pokémon, you know," Kuwabara added. "Fire type is doubly effective against grass type, right?"

"Shut-up, Kuwabara!" Yusuke groaned.

"We're letting that idiot get away!" Hiei pointed out. "Let's get him!"

He smacked a fist into his open palm, and again Yusuke had to grab the waistband of his pants to stop him.

"Just a minute there, big guy," he said. "Am I the only one who noticed we walked around in a circle without finding any other way out of this part of the fort?"

"Yes, we noticed that too," Kurama agreed. "Hiei and I encountered one low-level water demon, but nothing else."

"We only met Fabio," Kuwbara said.

"Fumio," Kurama corrected him.

"Right, and no other doors, or passageways," Yusuke said.

"Well, this complicates things slightly," Kurama said. "I would understand the entrance being closed off if they had achieved what they needed to in spirit world, but it's only been three days, they can't have control of the orchard yet, so surely they would leave the access open to allow them to import more weaponry."

"Maybe that's something else Koenma got wrong," Yusuke suggested, pulling out his communication mirror. "There's something suspicious going on in spirit world that he's not telling us about. We got a really weird call from Botan earlier, she hung up on us halfway through."

"What was she calling about?" Kurama asked.

"Yukina," Kuwabara replied. "She said she's gone missing, and I couldn't find her when I tried to reach her with my special telepathic link."

"You think she could have been kidnapped again?" Yusuke asked.

"What do you mean "again"?" Hiei snapped.

"Well, like last time, with Tarukane," Yusuke replied. "Remember? He kept her behind a wall of special talismans, and you couldn't reach her with your jagan eye, so maybe it's the same thing again now. Maybe she's locked away behind some special force and that's why Kuwabara can't reach her."

"Nonsense," Hiei said flatly.

"We don't really have time for this anyway," Kurama said. "Call Koenma. The problem in spirit world and the existence of this breach and the virus it has created are far more important."

"More important than what?" Hiei asked, rounding on Kurama.

"We have to think sensibly here Hiei, there is no place for emotion," Kurama answered. "One life can't be prioritised over several hundred and the fate of spirit world."

"Kurama's right," Yusuke agreed. "Botan'll find Yukina, we need to concentrate on this mess."

As Yusuke and Kuwabara called Koenma, Hiei turned his back on them, spitting out more blood. He hunched his shoulders and dragged the back of one hand across his lips to clear the blood, sweat and sliver still clinging to one corner of his mouth, flinching angrily when his cloak landed on his shoulders.

"You're shivering," Kurama said as he tried to arrange the cloak over Hiei, who shortly ducked out of his reach. "I thought you might still be cold."

"I'm not cold," he snapped, throwing his cloak to the ground.

"Don't worry about your sister," Kurama assured him. "She can't have gone far."

"I'm not worried," Hiei said.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I know exactly where Yukina is. I always do."

"Oh, well, perhaps you should tell Botan. She seems to be concerned."

"At least somebody is."

Kurama started to ask Hiei what he meant, but Hiei crouched down and picked up his cloak, tugging it back on and stomping over to Yusuke's side, peering into his communicator as Koenma responded to the call. After a brief moment of feeling confused and as though he had somehow missed something, Kurama followed Hiei's lead, and moved over to stand next to Kuwabara as they listened to Koenma updating them on the situation.

Next Chapter: The boys are ejected from spirit world, Keiko makes a sinister discovery in Yukina's bedroom, Kurama figures out what's really affecting Hiei's behaviour and actions, Jin updates the boys on the development of the virus antidote, Puu becomes sweet and gentle again, Botan makes a proposition to a certain demon and reveals a secret to another and Hiei and Kurama have a tense confrontation regarding Yukina's secret. (Long chapter is long!) Chapter 8 – Truths Negated